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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345644">The Refuge, Part 1: Return to Roses Room</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz'>justinsbuzz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Arc 4: The end... [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,239</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345644</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven needs some time to cool off after what had happened in the garden. going into his mother's room, he ends up finding more than he thought.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connie Maheswaran &amp; Steven Universe, Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Arc 4: The end... [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Refuge, Part 1: Return to Roses Room</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Kind of a longer story than the recent ones. Or shorter. I dunno anymore.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Refuge, Pt. 1</p><p>Steven felt nothing. Washed adrift in the inky blackness of the subconsciousness of his mind. He felt nothing. He saw nothing. He was nowhere for the most part. The only thing he could remember was Garnet’s voice, echoing in his head.</p><p>“His feelings don’t matter!” Cried out the echo. Over and over again until he grew numb. He had something under one of his arms. A particular kind of bag. A sleeping bag Over time, the feeling of numbness was replaced with the feeling of cold water. Cold water that had gone from his shoulders, to his neck, his chin, and ultimately his nose, prompting him to open his eyes quickly and jolt upright. He was in his bathroom, back at the house. Moments earlier, he was surrounded by rose edges and pristine skies. now, tiles, stucco ceiling, and someone sitting on the lid of the toilet. One of the last few people he wanted to see: Obsidian.</p><p>“Wakey, wakey, super-saiyan sleepyhead.” Obsidian said, looking at the startled Steven. “Bad dream?”</p><p>“W-what… how did I… you!” Steven growled. “What happened with making sure they would never find out where I was? Why did you sell me out?!”</p><p>“Well, for starters, what happened was that your gem went into meltdown mode and passed out. We brought you back here to rest in a bathtub filled with diamond essence and some green goo from the garden.” Obsidian replied. “And second, I didn’t sell you out. All I did was shape shift into you, crawled into the sleeping bag before Garnet opened the door. But before coming in, she just slammed it and said you ran away.”</p><p>“Must have been a terrible disguise then.” Steven murmured, causing Obsidian to be taken aback. Wanting to prove him wrong, she quickly, and perfectly, shape-shifted into a gray-scaled version of Steven.</p><p>“Well, I dunno, Steven, you tell you.” Obsidian said in Steven’s voice, sounding insulted before changing back. “But I’ll let it slide once. You’re sleep deprived, and you look like Peridot after binge-watching the ‘Dog-Copter’ saga. And that’s saying something.”</p><p>She wasn’t wrong. Though his gem wasn’t aching him, or glowing brightly, he still felt worn out. And the only thing that was aching him was his entire body. But as much as the thought of just staying in the tub the rest of the day to recuperate, the need to get as far away from the temple, and the gems, was slightly more urgent.</p><p>“Nope. Sorry. Need to get out of here. I don’t really feel like being around anyone right now.” Steven said as he subconsciously got up before realizing he wasn’t wearing clothes, causing him to drop back down in the tub. “Okay, then. I need my clothes. I need them now.”</p><p>“Let’s make a deal.” Obsidian spoke with a smile.</p><p>“What kind of deal?” Steven asked, sounding suspicious of Obsidian's motives, which can sometimes be odd.</p><p>“Well, option A: I get you your clothes, BUT you have to stay in the temple.” Obsidian replied, but seeing the beginnings of a protest to that option, she felt as though further iteration is required. “That is to say that you can go ANYWHERE in the house. You just can’t use the warp pads, or go into town, or ride a lion to anywhere. But you can go anywhere here.”</p><p>“And option B?” Steven asked as he started to really consider just running away again, but with the subtracted benefit of wearing clothes.</p><p>“Well, option B is that I get you a towel, and you can not only go and get your own clothes, but leave the temple, leave town, leave the planet even.” Obsidian spoke as she rolled her eyes. “But you would have to go through the gauntlet of people out there just to make it to the staircase. I mean, it’s kind of ugly out there.”</p><p>“What’s going on?” Steven asked another question.</p><p>“You.” Obsidian answered.</p><p>“Me?” Steven replied.</p><p>“Yep. You.” Obsidian responded. “Or mostly, everyone trying to keep their story straight with Pearl and Garnet. Dunno how hard it could be for them to just shrug and walk away. I do it all the time.”</p><p>Steven sank deeper into the water.</p><p>“They’re trying to cover for me.” Steven muttered.</p><p>“Well, that. And also, they’re feigning ignorance. They’re trying to make them chase their own tails or something.” Obsidian answered before asking her original question again. “So, clothes, or a towel?”</p><p>Steven thought about his choices, as well as the stipulations of. On one hand, the less of his friends and family he has to deal with, the better. But on the other, a question that he’s sure Obsidian hasn’t thought up of an easy answer for had popped into his head.</p><p>“Why do you want me to stick around?  The options you gave all require for me to either struggle to get out of here, or be stuck here with all of them. And to be honest, I guess the real question is ‘why give me a choice in the first place?’.” Steven pointed out, raising Obsidian’s eyebrows with an unexpected surprise. “What’s your angle here? What do you really want?”</p><p>“Depends. What do yo-” Obsidian attempted to deflect the question, but Steven wasn’t going to settle with another cryptic question.</p><p>“No.” Steven said sternly. “Not until you answer my questions. No more games. No more riddles, or answering questions with questions. If I knew the answer to any of it, I wouldn’t have asked in the freaking first place. So, again. What do you really want from me?”</p><p>Obsidian smiled slightly, her eyebrows lowered.</p><p>“You have grown up… Okay. If you really must know.” Obsidian began to reply, but not before draping her cloak over the counter and removing it quickly to reveal some clean clothes for Steven, and then turning away to give Steven some privacy. “What I want is for you to go into her room, and start asking it the questions you’ve been breaking your brain with.”</p><p>Steven’s curiosity had risen with this answer, he inquired some more.</p><p>“Just… you mean go into my mom’s room and just start asking questions?” Steven asked, feeling somewhat silly after asking.</p><p>“Yep.” Obsidian said. “I mean, you summoned a lot of things in there. Even the entire town. Or the beta version at least. Heck you even summoned a second Connie, which I do have to say, loved the cape thing then, still loving it now. Just… look at it woosh! I know I can control my appearance, but it was based off of your nightmares.”</p><p>“I kind of miss those nightmares, in a way. Beats being stomped on by either Pink Diamond, my mom, or myself.” Steven spoke.</p><p>“The reason why you don’t have those dreams anymore is because you’ve gotten over those things. Sure, you abandoning your friends in the ocean to go play “Space Himbo” was a dumb thing to do. What isn’t a dumb thing to do is meet those mistakes head on, and setting the wrong things right, while also learning to forgive yourself.” Obsidian pointed out. “You came a long way, but you got a bit further to go. How much further depends on perception, light-speed, time, basically useless junk for the most part. But the important bit is that it depends on you. But I think we know the answer to that though.”</p><p>Steven finished getting dressed.</p><p>“Do you really think it will work though?” Steven asked. “Just go into the room and ask a question? The past few times I went in there it didn’t seem to want to work. Then again, I haven’t been in there in eons.”</p><p>“Well, worst case scenario, you just end up feeling awkward asking a question out loud inside of an empty room by yourself.” Obsidian said. “But you got a bunch of people out there worried about you. Do you know what you’re going to tell them?”</p><p>“I think I might.” Steven answered. With a deep sigh, Steven walked towards the door, turned the knob, and opened it.</p><p>Whatever sound that could have been heard before, had vanished now. The living room and dining area grew hushed. Nearly everyone was there, but seemingly had split up into 3 groups. Sitting at the dinner table were Connie, Amethyst, Spinel, and Lapis. Connie was on the brink of tears as she charged at Steven and gave him a hug.</p><p>“Steven! Oh my gosh. Biscuit? Are you okay? What happened?!” She fired off one question after another frantically as she hugged him tightly. He was still sore, but let it happen anyway. But the winching groan he gave out caused Connie to move back. “Shoot. Sorry. i… I’m so sorry. I don’t know how they found-”</p><p>“Connie. It’s okay. Breathe, strawbs. Breathe.” Steven said, bringing Connie in close for a gentle hug. Looking over his shoulder, he could see Lapis, Amethyst and Spinel trying to look in any direction other than Steven and Connie. but a quick glimpse from Amethyst had shown a strong sense of guilt and shame. After a few seconds, Steven pulled away. “I’m not sure what happened. I just… blacked out, I think? I kind of need some time for myself.”</p><p>He was expecting Connie to protest his choice in wanting to be alone. But this time, all she could do was nod.</p><p>“O-okay.” Connie whispered softly, while holding his hand.</p><p>Steven followed her eyes over to the living room couch where his dad, Doug, and Jasper sat. His dad overheard Steven say that he needed some time alone. He saw fear and worry in his fathers eyes. It was a look he hadn’t seen since he was younger, after nearly being kidnapped by Jasper. Doug was trying to read Steven’s mind. He was always intuitive, but a situation like this had left him out of his element. Jasper, on the other hand, looked depressed and defeated. In the past, whenever he thought of Jasper, he always thought of a large, angry gem who was determined to kill him. The look on her face now makes Steven wonder if this was the same Jasper he knew long ago. A look of empathic hopelessness. But for brief second, there was a slightly stern look on her face as she looked into the kitchen.</p><p>Pearl and Garnet were standing against the counter. The last time he saw them, they sounded angry, and looked frustrated. Now, all they could show was terror. Garnet, more than most, looked frightened, but still tried to keep composure. In the past, he would always tried to see what was wrong. But now, he felt something he thought he would never have to feel when he saw a friend in trouble; nothing. He shut his eyes, shook his head, and walked towards the temple doors. This was a bit of a shock to everyone around him. He hasn’t been in his mom’s room for quite some time. Everyone there respected his space, or at almost all of them.</p><p>“Steven?” Pearl spoke while Steven continued his bee-line to the door. “Steven, Please, you know we didn’t mean that, right? You know your feelings matter to us.”</p><p>At that moment, his gem had done something it had never done before. Instead of burning him from the inside, it became cold. As cold as the words that came from his mouth.</p><p>“To know something like that would mean to have a sense of intuition, to feel. And last I checked, nothing I feel matters. My feelings don’t matter.” Steven said flatly as the door to Roses room opened up.</p><p>“Steven not another step!” Garnet spoke sternly before the door shut behind him.</p><p>Steven wanted to feel something. He wanted to feel bad for saying what he had just said. He wanted to turn around and take back everything he said. But now, all he could do was move forward. Walking amongst the clouds, he had noticed that they used to look pink and bright. But now, they seemed to have toned down in hue. They almost looked as though they were normal clouds with a light pink hue to them. He had continued to walk, he kind of wondered how big the room really was. Turning back, the door was visible. Perhaps 80 feet, Steven guessed. He continued to walk, alone with his thoughts.</p><p>He had walked for what felt to be a full 5 minutes. The trip to the big donut would take less time. Going by that logic, Steven was surprised to see that the room was as big as it was. But the moment he turned around to see how far he really went, his gut dropped at the sight of the door, still at the same distance as it was before. None of it made any sense to him, since the clouds all looked as though they were moving past him as he kept walking. If there was an end to the room, he should have gotten to it by now. He remembered how he was able to get the room to be as big as Beach City, but the fact that with the door being stationary, Steven was almost at a lost if it weren’t for a familiar voice.</p><p>“It seems that door is distracting you…” Obsidian said as she stood behind him, causing Steven to jump. “I thought you were going to ask the room some questions?”</p><p>“I’m going to. Eventually.” Steven stated, feeling guilty that he hasn’t gotten around to it yet. “I was just trying to collect my thoughts. Figure out how to properly ask the room what was wrong with me. Things can get really buggy if you ask the wrong things.”</p><p>“Buggy? Really?” Obsidian asked, not sounding amused. “Tell me, the person who shares all the same memories as you, when has it ever been buggy? Or in realistic terms, when has the room given you what you needed instead of what you wanted?”</p><p>Steven paused for a few moments to remember the few times he was in here.</p><p>“Well, the first time, the room accidentally made all of Beach City, but then everything started to glitch out.” Steven answered. “Even Pearl apparently knew that creating Beach City would be too much for the room to handle.”</p><p>“Or, maybe, the room forced you to leave after showing you what things look like when the gems weren’t around. You were pretty annoyed with them that day. A life without them could ultimately cause the world to shatter around you.” Obsidian spoke before snapping her fingers and producing a pair of large comfortable chairs.</p><p>“Well… I can see something like that when it comes to Amethyst. She treated me like the person I am.” Said Steven. “Pearl and Garnet… let’s skip them.”</p><p>“For now.” Obsidian added. “What about the next time?”</p><p>“You mean the whole Cloud Connie incident? I think that speaks for itself.” Steven said, finishing with a sigh. “Not sure what I could have gotten out of that.”</p><p>“Security.” Obsidian said.</p><p>“Security?” Steven asked in a confused tone.</p><p>“At the time, The room gave you both what you wanted AND what you needed.” Obsidian said with a smirk. “On one hand, you wanted to not just spend time with Connie, but also make her happy. You wanted to let her know how you truly felt about her. And the fact that Cloud Connie ended up with a so-so looking wedding dress meant that you wanted to marry her, EVEN BACK THEN YOU DONK showed that those feelings ran deep. Albeit, you did cheat the system by telling Connie how you felt about the book.”</p><p>“Well… in all honesty, I always kind of saw Connie as being Lisa. Adventurous, brave, strong. Sometimes, I don’t want to be the hero, but just the sidekick. The books were okay, but kind of imagining Connie like that might have left me with mixed feelings.” Steven said, sounding ashamed. “I love her. More than anything. But… would she have wanted to be a sword fighter? Did I push her to be someone she wasn’t? Did I do to her what Pearl and Garnet did to me?”</p><p>“Nope.” Obsidian said flatly. “I’ve seen her memories. Her feelings. She was always an adventurer at heart. She just needed the opportunity to be one. If she didn’t, she would have straight up said no. But back to the main thing, the room forced you to be honest with Connie about how you felt so that you can see that even with something as mild as loving the ending of the book she wasn’t thrilled with, you can still tell her the truth and not be destroyed by the outcome. Even though you didn’t tell her your real feelings, the truth about how you felt about something you had in common was a start.</p><p>Steven’s mind was blown. The 2 out of 3 times Steven seriously used the room, the room was actually teaching him more than he realized. But there was one more thing. One instance that Steven already knew the meaning behind.</p><p>“The last time I was in here, I wanted to talk to my mom. It went from me spending time with her, to having some things bubble up. I was angry with her. And I still kind of am. But I also know that most of the things that happened weren't totally her fault.” Steven reasoned with himself. “I guess… the room showed me how to confront my internal issues with my mom?”</p><p>“Yep.” Obsidian nodded. “But since you haven’t been back here since then, I believe it’s fair to say that…”</p><p>“That what?” Steven asked. Obsidian gazed at Steven, waiting for him to say something. Rolling her eye dramatically, she replied.</p><p>“It’s fair to say that yyyyyyyyou…. Haaaaave…” Obsidian spoke slowly, gesturing Steven to finish the sentence. Steven could only sigh.</p><p>“I really don’t want to say it.” Steven spoke.</p><p>“Don’t want to say that yyyyyyoooouuuu… haaaaave…” Obsidian spoke slowly again, gesturing Steven more emphatically to finish the sentence.</p><p>“That I have mother issues.” Steven groaned.</p><p>“DING DING! Congratulations! You made the first step into overcoming something that you should have overcome a long time ago! You get a lifetime supply of Cookie-Cat DELUXE ice cream sandwiches!” Obsidian cheered as balloons fell from the ceiling.</p><p>“They discontinued them, Remember?” Steven reminded Obsidian of one of the things he missed about his youth.</p><p>“I have my ways.” Obsidian said teasingly. “But if you must know the secret, You know that one bakery that those three goobers owned before going on tour? ‘Poly-bakery’ it was called?”</p><p>“The place where I got a cake for Connie when I tried to propose to her and everything spiraled into oblivion? Can’t say I do, Obsidian.” Steven said flatly. “Can't. Say. I. Do.”</p><p>“Well, since they broke up to do other stuff, they sold the place to some unknown investor, who’s turning it into the first and only known ‘Cookie-Cake Ice cream parlor’!” Obsidian cheered again, with balloons raining down from out of nowhere all over again. “First kind of place where you could make your own custom ice cream sandwiches, frozen custard, ice cream cakes, etc. It WAS going to be a surprise, but some troubled gem ruined it by asking a billion questions.”</p><p>“I only asked one. You kind of spilled the beans on your own.” Steven stated. “And how were you able to pull that off?”</p><p>“Who said It was me?” Obsidian asked.</p><p>“Because it’s you, Obsidian. You’re probably the only known mad genius in Beach City to come up with something like that.” Steven replied.</p><p>“Awww. You think I’m insane!” Obsidian cooed as she shapeshifted into a more accurate depiction of Connie. “Oh sempi-Steven. why do you make me blush like this! It’s embarrassing!”</p><p>“Not as embarrassing as if you were sitting where I am.” Steven shuttered, as he looked away from Obsidian. Obsidian blinked a few times, and reformed back to her old self.</p><p>“Not. Even. A chuckle.” Obsidian shook her head. “You’re losing your touch, girl! Anyway. Yeah. Mother issues. You got them.”</p><p>“Yeah. I do.” Steven sighed. “Now what?”</p><p>“Now, ask the room the basic question. The one question you ask yourself nearly every time you turn pink, or when your gem aches whenever you try to go to sleep. Or when you snap at some people accidentally.” Obsidian answered, listing off every instance Steven had always felt not quite like himself. “And the one question that’s on the tip of your tongue. Now, subconsciously, ask the question.  Don’t think ask. Ask it now. Ask the room now!”</p><p>“Room, what is wrong with me?” Steven blurted out without giving it a second thought.</p><p>At that very instance, a cloud emerged before them as soon as it had dissipated, leaving behind a table that had a bright pink computer, keyboard and a large monitor on top of it. Both Steven and Obsidian were confused as they looked it over. Obsidian, who could only have seen the back of the computer, loudly dragged her chair over to Steven’s so she could see what they were dealing with together. The monitor flickers on, showing a sentence:</p><p>Rebooting in progress</p><p>It also showed a small, 32-bit animation of Spinel swinging a rejuvenating scythe. That particular image struck fear inside of Steven.</p><p>“That’s… interesting.” Obsidian said cautiously.</p><p>“That’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” Steven muttered.</p><p>“Seriously? You’re telling me that this was more terrifying than that one jumpsuit your dad has? The one with the sequin fringe?” Obsidian asked, clearly with a blue X over her head.</p><p>“Back at the garden, yesterday night, Spinel kind of said something that kind of disturbed me.” Steven said.</p><p>“Which was?” Obsidian asked.</p><p>“Well… what if… the rejuvenator brought back someone who was long gone? What if it brought back my… brought ‘her’ ba-” Steven nearly finished what he was saying before a searing pain grew from his gem.</p><p>“OOOOOkay. Breathe, Steven! C’mon, Bud!” Obsidian told Steven, startled by this turn of events. “Okay, I think I know what she might have meant. It’s okay. Breathe. Calm down. It’s okay… for the most part.”</p><p>The pain wasn’t going away as fast as Steven would have hoped. Instead it only became a dull ache. Steven clenched his eyes shut as tight as humanly possible as he tried to block out the image of Spinel from his mind.</p><p>“Um… Steven? I think it’s finished doing that thing it was doing.” Obsidian spoke, tapping Steven’s shoulder. “The thing is gone, but a different thing is on the screen. It’s safe… I think…”</p><p>Steven opened his eyes and looked at the monitor. All there was on the screen was pinked colored diamond.</p><p>“Uh…huh… Is.. Is the room telling me that I’m Pink Diamond? Cause if it is, then I’m gone” Steven said before he turned to look at Obsidian. But when he did, she wasn’t there. Neither was her chair. “Uh… Obsidian? Obsidian?!”</p><p>The room had changed. No longer were there clouds or light, there was only dense slate walls and inky blackness. Looking back towards the screen, was met by the gaze of White Diamond. The chair he was sitting on had turned into a cracked geode, being cradled by white diamonds hands. And to make matters worse, Steven’s clothes were replaced with Pink Diamond’s.</p><p>“Okay… this is bogus. Really, REALLY, messed up. OBSIDIAN!?” Steven called out frustratingly to Obsidian, who was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>“My, my, my. Aren’t we the energetic one? Dear Pink. Welcome to the world. I’ll be expecting great things from you, little one.” White Diamond cooed before putting Steven inside of a bubble and shuttling him off somewhere. In the blink of an eye, he was underwater, sitting at the bottom of a large pool. Above him, he could see legs. And then he remembered that they used to have Pink Diamond stay at the bottom of the pool and sing to them. Steven could only shake his head as he looked up at them.</p><p>“You want a song?! Okay!” Steven growled with anger before attempting to take a deep breath and realizing he was underwater. He stopped himself when he realized that he was apparently in his mom’s memories. He had to ride it out like a Diamond.<br/>“Oh, the one thing I don’t wanna do!<br/>Is to be singing to!<br/>Three giant tyrants! THREE GIANT TYRANTS!<br/>All I really need,<br/>was piece of mind, not memories,<br/>of these giant tyrants, THREE FREAKING TYRANTS!<br/>Seriously! Room! WHAT THE HELL?!”</p><p>All of the sudden, the drain at the bottom of the pool opened up, sucking Steven down the drain. Everything had become dark. Everything spun around him until his feet landed on solid ground. Looking at his surroundings, he was finally somewhere familiar. Sadly, that place was the tower. In front of him was a window sitting high on the wall. Turning around, he saw White, looking furious.</p><p>“How DARE you embarrass me in front of my court! Do you not understand the appearance we need to keep up In front of those pebbles?!” White growled through gritted teeth. “It’s going to take us cycles to find those damnable organics! You will stay in here until then!”</p><p>“Wait… what?” Steven asked, feeling both confused, and annoyed at his little voyage through Pink’s memories.</p><p>“And don’t even think that Blue will come to your rescue! Last time she tried anything, she was reset back to her perfect form. And if it weren’t for the fact that you were more imperfect before than you are now, you would get the scythe too!” White Diamond growled with furious anger.</p><p>“You know, whatever progress we made back in the real world is really being knocked down a peg, White.” Steve said flatly.</p><p>“Don’t you DARE talk back to me you worthless pebble!” White Diamond yelled.</p><p>“Don’t you double dare whisper forward to me, you… you… man I had something. Hold on.” Steven said, chuckling at the fact that this was all in the past, and if he had to go through something that was already done, he was going to have some fun with it. But before he could say anything, white diamond slammed the door shut. “Really? Not going to ask for lotto numbers?! You might win enough money to get a decent haircut, you radioactive, albino porcupine!”</p><p>Nothing could be heard from beyond the door. All was silent.</p><p>“Jeez, why do I come up with the good stuff when no one is around?” Steven talked to himself. “Well… At least my gem isn’t trying to kill me.”</p><p>The light from the window faded black. Leaving Steven alone in the dark. But where the window had faded into black, another light source came into view: the light of the moon. Shining down on the shattered fragments of a planet, with one of those fragments being large enough to sustain a garden. Steven’s stomach didn’t just drop, it spike downward with the force of a hundred Jaspers slipping on a banana peel. That feeling went from 100 to 200 when he saw a somewhat familiar face. Spinel.</p><p>“PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!!!!!” Spinel squealed as she ran full bore into Steven, nearly tackling him to the ground. “You’re finally back! I kind of thought you forgot how to play hide and go seek! I’m glad you’re finally back.”</p><p>‘Oh jeez… don’t tell me that my mom abandoned her twice' Steven thought to himself, trying to hold back tears as Spinel led him along into the vibrant garden, but before Steven could be dragged any further, a voice squawked from behind them.</p><p>“Pink Diamond! You forgot something!” the voice cried out to them.</p><p>Turning around, Steven and Spinel saw that it was Yellow Diamonds pearl, seemingly unchanged in over thousands of years. She was carrying a shell under one of her arms, prompting Spinel to make a quick U-turn.</p><p>“Presents!” Spinel howled. Steven had never seen Spinel with so much energy. Once they reached Yellow Pearl, she thrusted the pink shell into Steven’s chest.</p><p>“Try not to break THIS ONE, okay?” Yellow Pearl said in a snobbish tone. Steven looked down at the shell, only to see nothing in his hands. The ground had changed. Where there was stone tiles, there was ash and dust on the ground. Slowly looking up, he wasn’t in the garden anymore. He was at the kindergarten on Earth. The only other person around was Pearl.</p><p>“If… if we do this. We can’t go back. You said so yourself.” Pearl spoke softly, despite the wind blowing.</p><p>“We’re… getting close, aren’t we?” Steven asked himself. “Well, hopefully I’ll get some answers near the end?”</p><p>“The Diamonds… I know they treated you terribly, but are you sure about this? Making our stand here?” Pearl asked, turning around and grabbing Steven by the hands.</p><p>“Bla blabla, blah bla.” Steven muttered, knowing that he’s only watching the memories, and can’t really do much.</p><p>“If this place is important to you, it’s important to me too!” Pearl declared.</p><p>“Wow… way to think for yourself there Pe-” Steven froze in mid-sentence, as he looked down to see a sword poking out from his abdomen. “Dang it. I forgot about this part.”</p><p>A puff of white cloud emerged around him, followed by a blinding white light and humming sound. Things were moving faster now. Pieces of gems scattered the ground, and he felt sick to his stomach. He lurched forward, nearly falling to the ground, only to really be getting back up and seeing a large sea monster before him. He swung at it for a moment, only to be holding his dad’s hand as they danced. A hand that was still being held as Steven was on the couch in the living room. His gem and abdomen hurt more. He then became a baby, a toddler, a kid. Frybo, meeting Connie, wanting to go on missions more to prove to them that he could take on the role of his mom. Fighting, dodging, running, feeling of being scared, and exhilaration. The moments he spent with Connie, watching Jasper become corrupted. His dad was abducted. He himself was abducted. Dancing to terrible music. Camping on an alien planet as someone else. Then suddenly, time had stopped. He was back in his house. His old house. He and Amethyst were sitting on the couch. Pearl standing in the middle of the room as she looked on at a glowing form of Garnet unfusing. This was it. The fulcrum points. Steven got up to walk around, just to see how much time had stopped. But suddenly, a voice came from the couch. A voice that he dreaded hearing.</p><p>“I never meant to lie to them. I didn’t mean to hurt them like this.” The gentle voice spoke from the couch. Steven slowly turned towards the sound. His blood ran cold, his muscles became stiff with terror, as he turned to look into the eyes with diamond pupils. She sat there, towering still above everyone else. Steven never truly grasped the size of his mom. “And… I never wanted you to be hurt either.”</p><p>“Well… It happened anyway, mom.” Steven said, tears streaking down his cheeks. His mother stood up and walked over to him, causing Steven to take a few steps back. He saw, for a moment, his mother’s heart slowly crack like a gem.</p><p>“I…” his mom attempted to speak, but could not find the words.</p><p>“Who are you? Really?” Steven asked flatly. “Are you really her? Are you a clone? A hologram? How much of this is really true? How much of these things that you’re telling me are real? Who are you?”</p><p>The image of his mother blinked, and thought for a few moments.</p><p>“I’m the room.” She spoke. “I guess, in human terms, I am an A.I., a digital clone of your mother, Steven.”</p><p>“An A.I.? Did… did she create you?” Steven asked, looking confused.</p><p>“More or less. Pearl helped make this place.” The room spoke. “I’m not Pink, or Rose, or you. But I’m pretty close. I was created to make Pink Diamond, or Rose Quartz happy. But over time, I was given more and more autonomy. My creativity was endless. But anything that was asked of me, I did my best to deliver. And after a while, I guess I became a digital copy of her”</p><p>“Uh-huh. So… what are you delivering now?” Steven asked.</p><p>“Perspective.” The room replied. “Steven… you suffered a lot of trauma.”</p><p>“Understatement of the year.” Steven said. “And this gem isn’t making things easier.”</p><p>“None of this was easy.” The room said. “And what needs to be done won’t be any easier.”</p><p>“What exactly needs to be done?” Steven asked inquisitively.</p><p>“Something that should have happened years ago. Back on Homeworld.” The room answered. “You weren’t meant to get away as easy as you did. In an alternate timeline, you were supposed to have been stopped from leaving Homeworld. The rebellion was never supposed to have happened. Your gem was supposed to have been taken out. Reconciliation should have happened.”</p><p>“Well… it didn’t. Also, this thing can be taken out?” Steven asked, sounding shocked.</p><p>“Just like how two gem’s can unfuse, you and your gem can be unfused as well. for most of your life, you and her were a fusion.” The room replied. All the blood in Steven’s face had vanished.</p><p>“Room, chair, please.” Steven muttered as he fell back into the chair he was sitting in. “Wait… I’m… a fusion?”</p><p>“Yes. In a way. Your mother believed that you would be the best of both worlds.” The room spoke.</p><p>“well… I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m the best of both worlds. After everything, I seriously doubt that I’m the best of either worlds.” Steven said, shaking his head as he begins to remember more of the garden. Memories of nearly shattering Pearl, Garnet, and Jasper. “For the longest time, I thought my mom shattered someone. But knowing that she hadn’t, and that I nearly have. I don’t know what she would think of me now.”</p><p>“You could ask her.” The room said.</p><p>“What? You mean just summon another version of her and ask what she would think of me? Those things aren’t real!” Steven replied.</p><p>“I’m not talking about a clone. I’m talking about the real her. She still does exist… somewhat.” The room spoke. “The rejuvenator… it brought her back.”</p><p>“No, it didn’t. if it did, I would have completely changed, or morphed into someone that would like a cross between her and I.” Steven retorted, slightly shaking his head. “Plus, I got my powers back after the whole Spinel incident.”</p><p>“No. you didn’t get your powers back. She did. And now she resides inside. Her power is growing, and it’s causing the human half of yourself to be in pain. Like a balloon about to burst.” The room spoke, leaving Steven speechless. “And in case you needed more evidence as of her return, tell me; who summoned me? who else would have known that I, the Rooms AI, existed?”</p><p>Years ago, Steven had found out that Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz were the same being, and it was a bit startling. But this. The fact that not only was he a fusion, but that his other half had been reset, just like the others. A tyrant from days of old, living, residing within himself. He looked down at his gem, not with pride, or guilt, or despair, or even resentment. Terror resided within him.</p><p>“Go to Homeworld, Steven. Talk to White Diamond. She’s the only one who can extract your gem. She’s the only one who can save you… before it’s too late.” The room’s AI said as she faded away. And with the hologram of the AI fading, so did the replica of Steven’s old house. The faded pink clouds had returned, and in extension, Obsidian, who was running around and looking behind clouds.</p><p>“Steven! C’mon man! Where did you go?! There’s no way I can leave this place without you! Connie would poof me. Amethyst would probably eat my gem or something. Priyanka would probably dip my gem in an epoxy resin to make sure I could never reform ever again! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Obsidian cried out.</p><p>“Obsidian?!” Steven called out to Obsidian, who turned her head  to see him, and began to run full bore into Steven and wrapped her arms around him.</p><p>“OHMYGOSH STEVEN!” Obsidian gasped. “I thought I lost you! One second you were there, the desk was there, your chair. My chair. And the next moment, I fall on my butt, and had no idea where you went! What happened?!”</p><p>“Well… we’re going to need to have a family meeting, and then we’re going on a road trip.” Steven said calmly.</p><p>“A road trip? Now? In your state?! Are you cracked, Jack?” Obsidian protested. “This isn’t the time to go to Jersey City to start gambling away gems!”</p><p>“We’re not going there. We’re not going anywhere on Earth. Pack your gem, Obsidian.” Seven said as he grabbed her shoulders. “We’re going to Homeworld.”</p><p>Obsidian could only blink in confusion.</p><p>“You… um… you know there’s no road going from here to Homeworld, right?” Obsidian stated, causing Steven to roll his eyes dramatically.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Next Time: A line in the sand has been drawn when Priyanka confronts the gems and their past actions. Uncomfortable truths are told which tests all of the People in Steven's life. The Refuge, Part 2: A line in the sand.</p><p>Kind of ramping things up a bit. this wasn't as angsty as the last, but at the same time, the next one is going to be... interesting.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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